Life After Viet Nam

I got a bit bored today so I decided to read over some of my blog and was thus struck with inspiration! I should at least write one post on, "life after Viet Nam". For me, life is not so bad! I have a great internship lined up for the next six months with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Philadelphia. I will be doing something with small business development and Latin American trade. Viet Nam now seems like a dream...Sometimes I find myself looking at pictures just to remind myself that it was real and that, no it was not a dream. However, I have found that it is a great conversation starter! haha!

I still keep in contact with my Vietnamese host mom in Can Tho and her family. My 16 year old host sister is taking the high school entrance exam soon so she is studying non stop. Then there is my Vietnamese host sister is Saigon (HCMC). I don't have her email so I will have to get a calling card to call her. She is coming to America soon. She will be here for a month doing some sort of leadership conference with other students from all over South East Asia. I feel sad when I think of her. On the last week of my stay in Viet Nam I found out she has Lupus. She is such a bright girl and so hard working too! I promised her that if she got sick while in the States that I would do all that I could to help her. I just hope it doesn't come to that. I want her to be happy and to enjoy her stay in the States.
Next Spring I will be graduating... It seems like life is just full of one phase after another... It's interesting and amazing, yet at the same time quite scary.
Henry told me the other day (Father's day) that he is tired of telling people that I am his girlfriend and would like it to be his fiancee from now on. I guess he is thinking about THAT. I guess it can't be helped, we have been together for 4 years. However, I am not as impatient as I used to be. Something like that can wait. It won't change how we feel and it shouldn't change how things are (unless it is another positive change).

I think my next target country will be somewhere in Latin America though I really want to go to Korea, Thailand and Japan (to practice my Japanese).
I definitely want to go back to Viet Nam. Hopefully in 2010 if I get a fellowship through Princeton in Asia.
Surprisingly, I have yet to do a road trip of the USA. Maybe this too should be on my list.

To those who are reading this:
Don't be afraid to take a chance, because otherwise how will you know if it was the experience that your life needed? Don't live in regret.

Back Home!

I am back in the states yay! I am really happy but I also feel a little strange. I am pretty much back to doing what I used to do. I am back to my "normal" routine. Yet, things seem so strange! I am currently in Philadelphia as I will probably live her with Henry throughout the summer and if I get this co-op which I REALLY want, I will be here for 6 months. I am pleasantly surprised but kind of scared in terms of how things have changed. My dad is thinking of going back to his country and selling his lands probably next year. My mom actually has a job. My sister got her driver's permit and is taking driving lessons. She is also looking to buy a car. Henry is currently on co-op and actually has become quite serious and kind of old in my eyes. So many things have happened since I have been gone! Apparently, there is a rice shortage? Coming from Viet Nam I have to say that is pure bs. However, there WILL BE a shortage in terms of the market if people freak out and get into a hoarding mentality where then people will buy amounts of rice that they don't need because they THINK there is a food shortage. Funny how the economy works huh? Thankfully eating food has not been a problem. I thought I would get sick or something because I had gotten used to eating Vietnamese food for the past 3 months but then again America is so much cleaner and restaurants have standards here.
I see my parents this weekend. Yes, I have not seen my parents yet but that's because I have a co-op interview in Philly on Friday with the Greater Philadelphia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (gphcc). I am happy to see them but at the same time I don't want to stay there too long. I think I would lose my mind if I stayed there for more than two days. I have gotten used to being away from them and having my freedom. I am 21 years old and I want to continue to do as I please. When I come home what usually happens is that my parents (specifically my mom) are very nice but then after two days my mom tends to lose her cool and things tend to go downhill from there.
I seem to compare a lot of things to Viet Nam; I find this to be very annoying. I am hoping that I am not annoying Henry with it. For the past two days a lot of what I say usually entails the sentence, 'in Vietnam...'.
Life is so much more relaxed here. I mean life in America in general is pretty stressful but when I compare it to the things that I did in Vietnam then it doesn't seem so bad. hmm, let's see how I will be in a few months! However, I must say that since Vietnam I have acquired a level of self confidence and focus that I did not previously posses; It's great! Vietnam has definitely sparked my interest in traveling, to new and 'exotic' places but I have to say that for me, life in America is wonderful.

Burma Has Been Hit By a Cyclone - 5 Days Till My Return

Yesterday I got in to Saigon from Can Tho City with Jenni. It was pouring when we got in. It was raining so heavily that it didn't look like we were crossing a street, but more like we were trying to cross a river! Apparently, a cyclone hit Burma/Myanmar on Saturday and I did not hear about it until yesterday. Then when I told Jenni she told me she just found out too and that she was worried because her brother was in Burma when it happened. It is now Monday morning and it seems as though just now America is getting word of it. Thankfully when I woke up this morning Jenni sent me a text message telling me that her brother was ok! Thank God! Tomorrow I give my ISP presentation and I have to make sure to get a couple of binded copies of it before May 10! It's 21 pages, about the minimum which is 20 but oh well! I just couldn't write anymore...
I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM GOING BACK! It's been 3 months already?!!

Viet Nam: It is What the Doctor Should have Ordered

"You are a student, why did you spend so much money(10 dollars!)on this hair clip for your mother?"

"Because I can make money at any time but my mother won't be around forever." After saying this which I thought was only natural, I made my homestay grandmother cry (she was so touched).

I think Viet Nam may have made me into a more considerate and kind person. I am finally starting to like the type of person that I am becoming. I suppose three and a half months away from home and being in a foreign country where you learn to speak the language because English simply won't do can do that to a person.

I am so excited to see my parents, my sister, henry and all of my friends!
8 days and 14 hours until my scheduled return to the states!

1 Week left in Can Tho City

So one week left... Kind of sad really. I like this city a lot and my host family has been nothing but wonderful to me. I consider myself to be very lucky. I am now working on my ISP paper and I hope it comes out decently! I am having trouble of course but I just want to make sure I get something down first and then I can work on it more and more as my presentation day approaches. May 6 I go back to HCMC with Jenny. May 8 we do our ISP presentations. On the days leading up to our departure to the USA I am not so sure about what we are doing. We are probably going to do some 'wrapping up' and anything else that would entail that. I can't believe than in less than 2 weeks I will be heading back to America. It is such a bitter sweet feeling. I will definitely miss Viet Nam. However, I try not to dwell on my return too much. There was a moment where I thought of seeing my best friend Michelle's face once I got home and I swear I almost ended up crying of happiness. I hope that when I see her I don't end up crying (too embarrassing!). Well I will know when I get to Boston. I can't know how I will react until I am actually there. So my final destination is Boston not New York. Sorry if I confused anyone! This is why I am probably seeing Michelle first. I need to give in some things to the university and the following day my dad will come to help me take my things to NYC. Of course we don't have a car so he will take a bus to help me and then we will each take a suit case, as we will go back to NYC by bus. AHHH such is the life of someone who is low income hahah! But you know what? It doesn't bother me as it used to. Sure I would like to have more money but I know that in the near future if I keep working hard I won't have to worry about not being able to afford certain things. You know I was totally up front with my host family and maybe that's why they like me. I told them that the reason why I have bought so much clothes is well ok three reasons, 1. They are way too expensive in the US (dress shirts, pants and dresses), 2. Therefore, I can't afford to spend money on such things when there are things that are more important 3. I can find clothes that fit me easily here(I am considered a Large here and my shoe size is the biggest size that they have but that's fine with me!)
I think I lost weight while I was here. My pants seem to fit more loosely now. Well, I wouldn't be surprised if I lost weight, the diet here is so healthy and I tend to ride my bicycle almost everyday here.
Coming here to VIETNAM not Japan AT THIS TIME I believe was the best decision that I have made so far. It was the best place to go given what I am studying and in addition, the amount of money that I had available for expenditures. In addition, I think we have all learned many valuable lessons while being here. I have learned things about myself that I am not sure that I would have otherwise. I am more patient and I have gained a greater appreciation for all the people that are so dear and special to me (friends and family!) I think Henry has learned a lesson too *wink* I think he's learned how lucky he is to have me as his girlfriend! I guess that saying is true, you just don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore.

The Lack of Environmental and Sanitary Awareness is Scary!

At the Floating Market Eating a Pineapple Boat Operator
My Khanh Alligator Pond
Can Tho City Bridge

There is a story behind this bridge and it is actually quite sad. Last year the Japanese provided funds for the building of a bridge in Can Tho. Instead of overseeing the project themselves they let the Vietnamese take care of it (first mistake). Therefore, the contractor who oversaw the project was Vietnamese (not to say Vietnamese contractors are bad). However, it is well known in Vietnam that when it comes to bridges and any infrastructure made by a Vietnamese it is generally ill/poorly made because of their lack of either, education or technological expertise (though it is usually this one) (2nd mistake). The result of these mistakes was: the bridge collapsing and killing around 50 people. The Japanese prime minister had to come to ask for forgiveness and now the Japanese are rebuilding the bridge, and they are NOT (believe me) committing the same mistakes twice!


On to today's Post!

Today I woke up at 5:15 am to go to the floating market. Tho picked me up at 5:30 am. When I got to the floating market I interviewed two sellers, a couple who lived on a boat (and who sold pineapples), and our very friendly boat operator. I think that I got a lot of interesting data today. For example, did you know that the people on the boats use the river water for domestic affairs ranging from washing their clothes to brushing their teeth?! The man that we talked to on the boat told us that he got sick and that it wasn’t until he went to the doctor that he began to boil his water before he drank it…. Though, I am not sure if that is sufficient (the boiling). When I talked to our boat operator I found out that he washes his boat with river water (where then the soap and dirt go into the river, but I didn’t tell him that). While on our way back his engine made some strange noise and I asked him what was wrong. He said that it was nothing it was just some GARBAGE that was caught by the engine. He said that ONCE A WEEK he has to remove garbage from his boat's engine. I don’t think that he realized how valuable his information was for my ISP but I am sure glad that he was willing to be interviewed about his job. In addition, we went to My Khanh garden. It is a man made garden and the place resembles a little cottage like getaway. I found out that most of the tourists are Vietnamese and that foreigners don’t like to go there because it is not “natural enough”. In a way I also felt this place was a bit…barbaric? They had something called “alligator fishing”. They have a pond full of alligators and the person can “fish” for an alligator. After that guess what happens? The alligator becomes a purse or a belt! When asked about the environment they said that they try to "help out" by BURNING their garbage. If I recall correctly burning garbage is not something one wants to do if it's just done with an incinerator because one isn't using heat energy to make electricity or steam rather, one is simply getting rid of the garbage and releasing harmful things! Oh well, a point that should be made is that, people need to be educated more on these sort of things (environmental and sanitary). Above are some pictures of today’s trip!

As Expected, There is a Light at the End of This Tunnel

I knew that if I just kept my cool that everything would be alright. So today I met with my advisor and two of her assistants. Well one is her research assistant, Loc (27) and the other is a recent graduate (undergrad), To (22). We sat down and worked on my questionnaire a bit and then wrote down a tentative plan for this week. It is still a work in progress but things seem to be looking up. I definitely have more data after just today. Today we went to Phu Sa (an island), we interviewed someone there as well as at the travel company Vietravel (Can Tho branch office). Later at 4pm we will interview someone at Saigon Cantho Tourist. It should be interesting as they are a state owned tourist agency. I must say that the distinction between the private agencies and the government agencies must be made as the differences between them seem to be great. Tomorrow I leave at 5:30 am for one of the “floating markets’. I will talk to a rower and probably some of the vendors (along with me buying fruit). Then we will go to My Khanh village fruit garden and probably talk to some tour operators and maybe a manager if it is possible.
“My assistants” are quite friendly, helpful and nice. However, I think both of them may have crushes on me! Now don’t get me wrong, I am NOT conceited or think of myself like that. However, I KNOW when a guy is hitting on me even if its subtle. To kept mentioning how I looked so beautiful with Non La (Vietnamese conical hat). When I asked Loc about what he does for fun, he just sounded like a workaholic. So I asked him why he doesn’t go out with friends or something like that. He said it would be nice to take a girlfriend to ice cream. I said well why don’t you do that? Well he has no girlfriend….and he then goes and says, 'I didn’t get your phone number. I need it so I can call you if we go out'. HAHHAA!! Why am I even discussing this? Maybe I found it cute and amusing…I don’t know. Oh the hearts of young Vietnamese men! Here are some pictures of today’s research!

Update:
I met with the director of Saigon/Cantho tourist and first of all HEARTHROB! HAHA Maybe for once I am being a total girl! In addition he spoke very good English and so I didn't need my assistants to translate for me. Overall, it was a pleasant and I believe very helpful interview.